1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to indoor air quality improvement. More particularly, it relates to a device for improving the air quality of an indoor structure and defending it against biological and chemical contaminants through the use of pressurized activated oxygen created through a cold plasma generating device.
2. Description of Prior Art
Improving indoor air quality and the ability to defend an enclosed environment from biological and chemical contaminants has been addressed in the prior art. Much of the prior art has been developed due to a greater understanding that poor air quality in a contained environment can effect one""s health resulting in serious sickness, and sometimes death, or at a minimum, irritating health side effects. The increasing costs of energy have resulted in stricter building codes which has resulted in tighter sealed indoor environments and poorer indoor air quality.
It is well known and documented that buildings can be inflicted with something referred to as xe2x80x9cSick Building Syndromexe2x80x9d (SBS) whereby inhabitants and occupants can manifest a multitude of varying symptoms from headaches, tiredness, nausea, dizziness, short-term memory loss, irritability, itchy eyes and throats and running noises to serious viral and bacteria inflictions and even Legionnaries Disease, a type of pneumonia which attacks 2-5% of those exposed thereto. It is further known that between 5-15% of those who contract legionella can die from exposure thereto. The elderly, the young and those having compromised or suppressed immune systems are at an even greater risk of contracting many of the symptoms and sicknesses known to be attributable to xe2x80x9cSick Building Syndrome.xe2x80x9d Tuberculosis, or TB, is a deadly bacteria which is transmitted through the air and is contracted in humans by inhalation. Again, the elderly, the young and those with a suppressed immune system are at an even greater risk of contracting TB if exposed thereto. Since mycobacterium tuberculosis is carried in airborne particles known as droplet nuclei, which are so small that they can be indefinitely suspended in the air, it is very easy for this dangerous bacteria to travel through the HVAC system of a commercial building or home. Addressing these dangerous bacteria and viruses, as well as simple molds and mildews, within enclosed environments is therefore of great importance in purifying an environment inflicted with the xe2x80x9cSick Building Syndromexe2x80x9d, or other similar condition.
Another controversial disease associated with xe2x80x9cSick Building Syndromexe2x80x9d is xe2x80x9cMultiple Chemical Sensitivityxe2x80x9d (MCS), which can make people allergic to almost anything containing a man-made chemical. This condition can have devastating effects upon a person""s immune system, sometimes forcing people to retreat to a surreal environment separated from the rest of the world by a xe2x80x9cplastic bubblexe2x80x9d. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has even gone as far to say that indoor air quality is one of the top five environmental health risks of the present time. Further, at the present time, almost a dozen states now recognize MCS as a bona fide claim for workers"" compensation and is also covered on a case by case basis under the Americans with Disabilities Act, obliging employers to make accommodations for sufferers of the disease.
Along with the naturally occurring contaminants as described directly above, there is now a great need for defending against the deliberate contamination of enclosed environments with known toxins, be they made man or naturally occurring in nature, by criminals and terrorists, as well as accidental chemical spills. Although gas masks and filters may assist in thwarting an attack or accident occurring within an enclosed environment which would diminish some of the effects of the biological or chemical toxins, they do nothing for sterilizing the contaminated environment for re-habitation and re-occupancy. Further, since many of the known biological and chemical toxins and pathogens are relatively small in particle size, some even being odorless, filters and gas masks may prove to be ineffective if someone where exposed.
The use of ozone, an allotropic form of oxygen, has been known to be a powerful oxidant used in the sterilization of articles of manufacture. Ozone has been used for years to treat and sterilize biological fluids and medical instruments and to purify hospital environments. It has also been known to be useful in the treatment of industrial wastes for safe discharge. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,591 to Kekez, biological fluids are treated with ozone having a composition of either an O3/O2 or an O3/inert gas mixture. It is important to note that ozone as described is a combination of O3 and another inert gas or oxygen composition. Prior to the invention described hereinafter, no one has taught the use of using merely the O3 portion of ozone in a pressurized setting to treat and defend against mold, mildew, and other known irritants.
It is known that the use of highly pressurized, oxygenated environments can promote the healing of some sicknesses in people. Hyperbaric chambers are of course well known in the prior art for the treatment of decompression sickness for sport and commercial scuba divers who either exceed their xe2x80x9cbottom timexe2x80x9d of breathing compressed air or for those who ascend too quickly from a deep dive. Decompression sickness results from an elevated level of nitrogen in the blood stream, which has built up during a dive, and which can not escape quickly enough out of the blood stream and out through the skin of a person. The highly pressurized environment and elevated levels of oxygen within the hyperbaric chamber promotes the rapid evaporation (or release) of the elevated nitrogen from the person""s body.
What has not been developed in the prior art, but is greatly needed, is a device which utilizes some of the attributes of a hyperbaric chamber as well as those of an ozone generator to treat and purify the air of an enclosed environment. A device which emits a pressurized form of O3 is greatly needed. Such a device attached to the HVAC system of a home, school or commercial building could constantly purify and treat the air of the enclosed environment, under pressure, to rid it of mold, mildew and biological and chemical contaminants which lead to serious health complications. Such a device could also act as a defense mechanism for any contaminants introduced by accident or by purposeful design all the while being unobtrusive to the people inhabiting the area being treated. Prior to the invention herein, no such device exits.
I have invented a device for treating the air and contents of an enclosed environment which acts to kill and prohibit the future proliferation of mold and mildew and defend said environments against biological and chemical contaminants and toxins which may invade the environment by accident or by purposeful design. In its preferred form, the novel device of the present invention mounts to the supply side of a duct of a HVAC system. The device includes a series of cold plasma generator plates mounted within a housing which when charged with a low level voltage creates a source of activated oxygen (O3). The specially designed generator plates drastically reduce the possibility of nitric oxide from being produced, which is known to destroy activated oxygen. The activated oxygen is then pressurized to a level above the ambient air pressure and introduced into the duct system of the HVAC system for distribution throughout the building associated therewith. The square footage area of the enclosure to be treated and the tonnage rating of the HVAC system dictates the number of generator plates to be employed within the device. It is also noted that the generator plates employed with the novel device of the present invention produces no heat, an advantage over known prior art ozone generators.
By introducing the activated oxygen (O3) under pressure, all solid objects within the enclosure are penetrated and thereby treated for any and all contaminants on the surface of the object or embedded therein, which include, but is not limited to, the walls, furniture, clothes, carpets, drapes, and other typical household and office items and fixtures. The pressurized activated oxygen is completely safe to the respiratory system of humans and other animals and causes no harmful disruption to the environment being treated. The use of pressure also ensures that any unwanted chemicals or biological agents present in the air are prohibited from entering the environment by way of the ambient air due to the positive pressure pushing against any incoming ambient air. However, if any contaminants are brought in on a substrate, such as a shoe or piece of clothing, or exhaled from a person""s body (i.e., coughing), it is immediately attacked by the continuous pressurized source of activated oxygen from the novel device of the present invention.
An alternate embodiment of the present invention includes a stand alone apparatus having a plurality of units enclosing the cold plasma O3 generator plates. The stand alone apparatus attaches to a door or window for drawing in ambient air, thereafter treating the air to create the pressurized activated oxygen and thereafter dispersing said pressurized activated oxygen out through air ports for treating the enclosed environment. This alternate embodiment of the novel device can be used to quickly address enclosures that have been exposed, by accidental or by purposeful design, to airborne contaminants which are harmful to people to inhale or otherwise be exposed thereto. This alternate embodiment can also be used to treat sick buildings that are inflicted with mold and mildew behind the walls. This novel alternate embodiment has great use for insurance companies which hereto before would have to compensate its insured for the sick building and then have the building burned down to rid it completely of the mold and mildew or other irritant.
Yet another alternate embodiment includes a single unit attached to an air vent along a building hallway corridor. This alternate embodiment draws in ambient air from behind the building hallway corridor by a fan, creating a pressurized air source which is mixed with the activated oxygen (O3) and thereafter dispersed through the air vent. This unit has great use for older buildings not employing central HVAC systems, like those found in many older schools and buildings which are built in environments which are not exposed to great heat and therefore typically do not need central HVAC systems.